Science for Monks and Nuns

Modern Science with a Buddhist Perspective

Science For Monks and Nuns is a non-profit organization inspired by His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s personal passion for science. The organization provides opportunity for the Tibetan monastic community in India, Nepal and Bhutan to engage in new science learning and dialogue.

“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.”– Jimi Hendrix

Words of Wisdom

“The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could respond to the needs of modern science, it would be Buddhism.”– Albert Einstein

Mission

The mission of Science for Monks is to nurture leaders who are establishing the indigenous capacity of the Tibetan monastic community to engage in new science learning and dialogue. Through institutes, workshops, exhibitions, conferences, research investigations, and mentorship visits, our programs bridge Eastern and Western knowledge, bringing science to monastics and Buddhist wisdom to the world of science and to a global audience. Our programs invest in the capacity of the Tibetan monastic community in India, Nepal, and Bhutan to drive new learning and scientific inquiry.

“Seeing the tremendous importance of science and recognizing its inevitable dominance in the modern world fundamentally changed my attitude to it from curiosity to a kind of urgent engagement. I wanted to understand science because it game me a new area to explore in my personal quest to understand nature of reality. I also wanted to learn about it because I recognized in it a compelling way to communicate insights gleaned from my own spiritual tradition. The central question- central for the survival and well-being of our world- is how we can make the wonderful developments of science into something that offers altruistic and compassionate service for the needs of humanity and the other sentient beings with whom we share this earth.”